Caught
by majorfangirl
Summary: Ino lived a seemingly perfect life, but when she's caught shoplifting, she gets sent to an after school program for trouble making teens, where she meets people she never expected would ever be her friends. NaruIno, LeeIno, other pairs inside.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well! I'm kind of surprised this one won the vote. I had been planning the plot for Helping Hand for a long time and had written a chapter of it. Intense had been in planning for about a week and Caught…well, I came up with it spur of the moment. Needless to say, I was very surprised. So, now that it's being written, vote in the poll! NaruIno or LeeIno? Other pairs are KibaHina, KankuSaku, DeiTema, ChoTen, light SasuIno, NejiHina, ChoIno.**

"Stop it right there, missy!" an angry clerk shouted. "Don't think I didn't see you put that in your pocket."

Yamanaka Ino pretended to not hear him as she sped up a bit more, trying to make it out of the store before she got caught. She knew this store was small and didn't have the alarms at each door. If she could just make it out before someone got her…

A strong arm grabbed her with an iron grip, forcing her to stop. He reached into the pocket of her tight jeans, only to receive a punch to the nose. This girl was pretty strong for someone so thin.

"It wasn't in that pocket," the store clerk who had been yelling at her said. The security guard nodded, despite the pain in his nose, and reached into the pocket of her purple jacket, which had been odd on its own, seeing that it was early fall. School had just recently let in; there was no need for jackets yet.

Ino struggled to try and break free, but he didn't let go as he pulled out the purple purse, which had been wadded up and crammed hastily into her pocket.

~X~

The girl later found herself at home, where her father, Yamanaka Inoichi, paced in front of her, going on and on about how he couldn't believe that she had done this.

"You have everything! If you had wanted the purse, I could have given you money for it, it's not like we're poor and it was a really cheap purse anyway! Why did you try to steal it?"

Ino, however, still refused to tell anyone why she had taken the purse. It was still a mystery as to why the sixteen year old girl with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, who was very rich, had tried to steal something.

Her life was seemingly perfect. She went to an exclusive school, Konoha Academy, and was dating one of the most popular boy there. She had two great friends, a loving father, and a lot of money. She had never known her mother, who had died when she was just a baby, but she had never had many issues with that.

So why had she suddenly tried to steal something that she could have easily bought?

When faced with police, it had been up to her: community service or an after school program. She had obviously chosen the after school program, at least she could keep it a secret from her friends. It wasn't something she wanted to do, but she had gotten caught, now she had to pay the price for crime.

Without a word to her father, she slipped upstairs and fell asleep quickly in her large room, painted purple, her favorite color.

~X~

The next morning, she silently slipped out of the house and into her purple convertible. She was at school in no time and parked in between Haruno Sakura, one of her best friends, and Uchiha Sasuke, her gorgeous boyfriend that everyone had been after.

Hyuuga Hinata, her other good friend, was riding with her older cousin Neji, who had just parked on the other side of Sasuke.

"G-good morning, Ino," Hinata said quietly. She was a timid girl with indigo hair and white eyes. Her cousin Neji had dark brown hair and eyes of the same color. He wasn't bad looking, but everyone knew he and Hinata were both off limits.

The reason was one that disgusted Ino. The two were forced to marry each other, an arranged marriage. That was positively horrible to imagine for Ino, because she believed that they should only get married if they were truly in love.

"Hey, Hinata, Neji," the blonde said cheerfully, not letting on that she had anything out of the ordinary going on.

Neji gave a quick nod in response and went to go join his friend Lee, and Hinata walked alongside Ino as they went to go meet Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Chouji.

Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Chouza were both good friends of Inoichi's, so Ino had grown up with their sons, Mr. Lazy Bum himself, Shikamaru, and Chouji, who was nice, if you could get around his eating habits. As in, he was hungry all the time.

Shikamaru had dark brown hair and Chouji had auburn hair, and the two were almost inseparable. They were close enough with Ino to frequently be seen around her and her best friends.

Ever since black haired, onyx eyed Sasuke had begun dating Ino, he had become a part of their group. He was formally a bit of a loner, and was the silent, mysterious type, which meant all the girls wanted him. Lucky for Ino, she was good enough for him.

Haruno Sakura, her very best friend in the entire world, had sugar pink hair and emerald eyes. The two had been friends since elementary school, but constantly fought and competed over things. Sakura had at first been very jealous of Ino's relationship with Sasuke, but had finally accepted it and was willing to find someone else to crush on.

None of them would ever believe that Ino had been caught shoplifting the night before or that she was going to a program after school for a few months. Still, nobody had to know. She would just not tell them what she was doing, and they would never know.

As she reached her friends, Sasuke placed a gentle kiss on her lips, something he did every morning. She was really happy to see her friends and boyfriend, at least until Chouji opened his mouth.

"Ino, my dad was talking to yours last night. Did you really try and shoplift and now have to go to a troublemaking teens program after school for a while?"

**A/N: Just a little cliffhanger to get us started. I wrote that pretty darn quickly, I must say. It really wasn't very hard for me to write at all. Maybe this idea won't be a dud.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter two, my peeps. NaruIno won the poll, but there'll be some LeeIno cuz there's not enough of it out there.**

_Dammit Chouji._

The group fell silent as they all turned their attention to Ino. Sasuke, after their morning kiss, had put his arm around her shoulders, but he now removed it and stood amongst the rest of her friends.

There was no way she could get out of this now, so she began to tell them the story of the night before.

"So, I didn't want to do community service. I ended up choosing this after school program where some woman talks to us for a while and we all try to become better people," Ino said, as if stealing was something that she did everyday. Her friends all stared at her, wide eyed with their jaws on the floor.

Save for Sasuke, who only looked icy cold as he walked back up to her and stared directly into her eyes. "It's over," he said.

"Wh-what?"

"It's over, Ino. I'm not dating any criminal. You can find yourself a boyfriend who likes that or a girlfriend, maybe that's your style now, but you won't ever be dating me," Sasuke said, before turning and walking down the hallway.

Ino wanted to slap him, but he was already gone. Besides, she would have been too busy crying anyway. She turned to her friends for comfort, but they were too curious about what Chouji had spilled.

"Why, Ino?" Sakura asked. "You never seemed like that kind of girl. You're smart, you're talented, you're rich, you're almost as pretty as me. Why did you do it?"

"Okay, forehead, I'm ten times prettier than you."

"You never answered me! Why the hell did you do this?" the pinkette asked, glaring at Ino.

Ino turned away and ignored Sakura.

"I'm going to class," she said and left her baffled friends behind.

~X~

The school day went by much to fast in the blonde's opinion, but she soon found herself driving to After School Program For Trouble Making Teens. Yes, that was actually the name.

When she entered the room, she saw a lot more people than she expected. So, she wasn't the only trouble making teen.

Off in a corner, there were a few boys. One had spiky blonde hair and blue eyes, and wore an energetic grin. Another had messy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, and when he smiled, Ino could see that his canines (A/N: they're teeth, canines as in dogs got the name from them) were longer than a normal person's. The last one was also a brunette with deep brown eyes and messy hair, but he wore a black hat over it.

Then there were a few girls grouped together, a brunette with her hair in two buns and brown eyes, a blonde with teal eyes and her hair in four ponytails, and a redhead with glasses.

Standing in a group of three, there was a boy with spiky black hair and dark eyes, a boy with brown hair (A/N: It says so on Absolutely Anime, without the bandages), and a girl with black hair and black eyes. (A/N: And, as said on Absolute Anime, it turns out Kin and I share a birthday)

Finally, there was a group larger than the rest that seemed a bit creepy. There was a redhead with multiple piercings, a blunette girl with a flower in her hair, a boy who bore a striking resemblance to Sasuke with long black hair in a ponytail and onyx eyes, a boy with spiky blue hair, a boy who was rather feminine with long blonde hair and gray-blue eyes, a redheaded boy with red eyes, a boy with white hair and violet eyes, a boy with dark brown hair and green eyes, and a boy with green hair and yellow eyes.

Ino glanced around before sitting down by herself. Almost immediately, the group of girls surrounded her.

"So, what'd you do?" the blonde asked.

"Oh, I tried to steal something," replied Ino.

"Oh, haven't we all, I don't think you'll be here long," the redhead said to her. "By the way, my name's Karin."

"I'm Tenten and the other girl's Temari," the brunette said.

"Yamanaka Ino."

"No freaking way," said Temari. "You mean you're that rich girl who goes to Konoha Academy?"

"Yeah, and?" Ino asked.

"Well, what's someone as loaded as you doing trying to steal something?" Temari asked.

Again, Ino ignored the question.

"We all go to Konoha High, not the little fancy rich school," Karin said. "Well, all of us except for them." She gestured to the large group. "They all go to Akatsuki School. You know, that place where you get sent if you're really bad? They've done so much that they're here until they're eighteen, which isn't far off for most of them."

"I think that Hidan is eighteen in two days," Tenten said. "He's the white haired one."

Suddenly, the door opened and a woman of about 25 walked in. her almost black hair was tied up in a ponytail and there was an enthusiastic gleam in her brown eyes which were behind a pair of wire frame glasses.

"Alright, guys, as you can see, we have a new girl joining us today, her name's Yamanaka Ino and I'm sure you'll all get along with her," the woman said.

She walked over to Ino and smiled. "My name's Hikari. Now, I'm sure you're thinking, how did I get here? Can I ever turn my life around? But don't worry, people DO manage to change all the time, I see it a lot. And you're still young, you have your whole life ahead of you. You can become someone else, and I promise that I'll help you through it."

Ino nodded. She seemed nice, a little eccentric, but nice.

"When I was you age, I suddenly decided to prove myself. I was tired of being the enthusiastic good student with glasses and a nice smile because I just got my braces off. I was sent here and a woman turned my life around completely. That's why I decided to work here, so that I could help people too."

Hikari had a look of nostalgia on her face for a few minutes before walking to the front of the room. "Everyone needs to sit down and we'll get started."

**A/N: I'm the person in charge! WOOHOO! I dunno, I can't do a chapter fic without incorporating an OC somewhere. Anyway, you're not going to see much of the Akatsuki, except for Deidara cuz he's with Temari and some Itachi. I'm horrible at writing as them, so I'm going to avoid them like the plague.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Alright! An update. Vote in the poll in my profile.**

**Shusui: Or Sunako'll get you.**

**Sunako: You know what? I don't even care anymore!**

Ino hated to admit it, but she had a pretty good time. Hikari, despite being a bit crazy, was really nice and generally made sure the whole thing didn't seem like a punishment, but a club meeting of some sort.

Saying good bye almost hurt, but then she remembered that this _was_ her punishment, Hikari was her jailer, and these people were her cellmates. Nobody was her friend and this wasn't fun.

Even if she had remembered to program Tenten's, Temari's, and Karin's numbers into her phone. Even if she had made an effort to find out about them, like Temari liked that blonde who had been in that gang, Deidara, she said his name was. Ino couldn't blame her, he was pretty hot, after all.

So was the dark haired one, who turned out to be Sasuke's brother Itachi. She remembered hearing that he had a brother, but he hadn't seemed to be too fond of him. Ino had never met him.

But most importantly, though it didn't seem that way at the time, was the boy with spiky blonde hair, who grabbed her on her way out.

"Hey, Ino, was it?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm Ino," she replied. "What do you want?"

"My name's Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto. Since you go to Konoha Academy, I was wondering if you know a cutie by the name of Haruno Sakura? She has pink hair, you can't miss her." He smiled.

"Of course I know Sakura. She's my best friend! Or she was, anyway," Ino said with a sigh.

"Huh? Did something happen between you two?" Naruto asked.

"She's just not so thrilled that I'm here, that's all. None of my friends are."

"Ah, I see," Naruto said, nodding. "All my friends _are_ here, there's Kiba, Temari, Kankuro, Tenten, and Karin. I saw you with some of them when you first got here."

"Yeah, they're nice," Ino said. "But back to Sakura. Do you even know her?" the blonde asked, suspicious.

"Do I even know her? Of course I know Sakura! She's the cutest girl in the whole world!"

"So, you're her stalker," she said, joking.

"Oh, crap," he said, going along with it, "I've been discovered. I need to be more stealthy."

"How do you know her?" she asked.

"Oh, she went to my school up until fourth grade," Naruto replied. (A/N: I know that I said Ino and Sakura had been friends since elementary school! Well…fourth grade is elementary school!)

"Now that you mention it, I didn't meet her until that time. So, Naruto, what are you in for?"

"Too many mass pranks," he said with a guilty grin. "And you?"

"Shoplifting."

"Ooooh," he said, getting a fake-shocked expression on. "We've got one terrible criminal here." Ino laughed when he added, "I'm gonna go call the Po-Po!"

But he never asked what her motives were. As she continued to laugh, Ino couldn't deny that she liked Naruto.

~X~

The next day at school, Ino became a loner. Without her friends by her side, she had no one. Even if she chose to avoid them, it was still lonely for her, because the people who usually wanted to spend time with her had heard about her new afternoon activity and stayed away.

She constantly found her mind drifting off to the golden haired Naruto, the quick witted Temari, the kind-on-the-inside Tenten, the redheaded Karin, and was alarmed to realize that she was looking forward to seeing them. They were people she never thought she would be friends with and she had only met them the day before, but she already preferred them to her rich school friends.

With them, there was no pressure to be the perfect princess that ruled Konoha Academy, with them she was just Yamanaka Ino, a girl not much different from them, stuck with the same punishment for a small-time crime that she had committed.

~X~

When the bell rang, symbolizing the end of the school day, Ino was actually excited about going to her punishment. She tried her hardest to tell herself that it was just that, a punishment, but with her friends no longer accepting her, she couldn't help but be excited at the chance to be social with people who understood her.

She was just about to leave, when a hand gently brushed her shoulder.

"Um…I-Ino?"

Ino was surprised to see Hinata standing there. "Yeah, Hinata? What is it you need?"

"I…I don't approve of your st-stealing…but I…en-enjoy your friendship and I think…I think I can set it aside and still accept you…as my f-friend…okay?"

A smile spread across Ino's face. "Hinata…that's one of the nicest things I've ever heard. I'd love to still have you as a friend, and I'm glad you still consider me worthy." She pulled the girl into an embrace."So," she said after the hug was broken, "do you want to come over later on tonight?"

"O-okay."

"I get out of that program at five, I'll be by your house to pick you up then, see ya!"

Ino happily bolted to her beloved purple car. She had one of her old friends back and she was going to see her four new ones. Her life was already looking a lot better and her story had only just begun.

**A/N: So I set up some of the NaruIno, but how do I include Lee in this? I'm stuck, anyone got any suggestions? I'm also going to include a bit of ItaIno, because one of my favorite reviewers put the idea into my head. Itachi needs some loving. VOTE IN THE POLL IN MY PROFILE!**

**Shusui: Lee won't be in the next chapter, but he might be in chapter five if Hannah gets some ideas.**

**Me: Yeah! Ideas! So, you're going to see some happy friendship in the next chapter, but I'm not sure about when Sakura will finally come around, though she will eventually.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: It has been FOREVER!**

**Shusui: I'll say!**

**Me: Shut up, abandoned OC! Anyway, I've decided to get back on track with this story in hopes that it will gain more popularity! Also, ItaIno is going to be very light, because I want some ItaKar in this.**

After the short drive, Ino immediately brightened some more to see Tenten, Temari, and Karin outside waiting for her.

"Hey, girl, what's up?" Temari said, as they walked inside.

"Oh, today's been great! My friend Hinata's willing to put everything behind us and be my friend again," the blonde girl said, crystal eyes shining with joy.

"Wait, wait, wait," Karin said. "You're friends would treat you like crap because you made a mistake, and then turn around and befriend you again, and you would let one back into your life without even considering that she could be faking it?"

"Hinata isn't that kind of person!"

"Are you sure?" Tenten asked, skeptical.

"Well, yeah, she's a very sweet girl who would do anything for anyone," said Ino.

"Exactly," Karin said, waving a hand. "And one of your more forceful friends, or your ex-boyfriend, forced her into it!"

"Wait, so you guys think Hinata would listen if Sasuke or Sakura told her to do it? That's ridiculous!"

"It's not ridiculous, people can be awful," Temari replied.

"Excuse me," a male voice said and Ino realized it was Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, "but I heard you mention Sasuke. Do you go to Konoha Academy?"

"Yes, I do," Ino said. "I'm the girl he dumped because I ended up here!"

"I see," he replied. "You must be Ino. I had asked Sasuke if I could meet you, but he would never let me. Could you meet me in Konoha Shopping District tomorrow, around one?"

"I…I don't know if I…"

"It won't take much time, I just have a few things I want to talk to you about," Itachi said.

"Um…alright," Ino finally said.

"Thank you for your time," he replied and walked away.

"Oh, Ino, I am _so_ jealous," Karin said after he was out of earshot. "That Itachi is _hot_!"

"Oh, you like him?"

"Totally, I've never seen anyone more gorgeous than him!"

They had to end their conversation because Hikari entered the room, smiling as usual.

"Hello, guys," she said. "Today I've got a special announcement. We're going to be doing a group project! I'll pair you up into groups of two and it'll be up to you to come up with something you can do for the community. Obviously you can't get a grade on a report card, but this will help with the time you serve here.

I'll announce the groups. Deidara and Temari." Temari turned to grin at Tenten and Deidara smirked. "Zetsu and Kin. Dosu and Zaku. Pein and Konan. Itachi and Karin." Karin's blush and triumphant grin could have lit up the entire room. "Sasori and Kisame. Naruto and Ino." Ino smiled at being in a group with someone she was friendly with and Naruto waved at her from across the room, making her laugh. "Hidan and Kakuzu. Because we have an odd number, Tenten, Kiba, and Kankuro, you three will be working together."

She dismissed them to get into groups and discuss what they were going to do, and Ino and Naruto grouped up in a corner.

"Alright, so what can we do for the community?" Ino asked.

"Well, I could stop being obnoxious and you could stop stealing things," Naruto said and both blondes laughed.

"But, no, seriously, what could we do?"  
The two fell silent, contemplating, neither having very many ideas at all, until Ino said, "What about a bake sale?"

"I really don't think I can bake, and besides, what would that do for my masculinity?"

"You don't have to bake, you could just sell," Ino said. "Yeah, we could have a bake sale and donate our money to the public library. Recently there was a fire and a lot of the books were destroyed…they could use some new ones!"

"Isn't that a lot of work for only two people?" Naruto asked.

"Hikari didn't say we couldn't have others help us, she just said we had to work together on it."

After confirming that it was okay to have some of their friends help out, the two decided that a bake sale was just the thing for them to do.

~X~

After picking up Hinata from the large Hyuuga estate, the two went to Ino's house, where her father was still not home. It was better that way, because she was not sure if she was even allowed to have friends over.

"Ino, I…I'd really like to know why you did what you did," was the first thing Hinata said. Ino knew that this would happen, but instead of answering, she merely said, "I don't see why it matters."

"B-but Ino…"

"It's no big deal, okay? I really don't want to talk about it."

"Alright…"

"So, Hinata, why are you suddenly being friendly? Did someone send you to do this?"

"Wh-what? No! I would never, ever do something like that! You've always been so good to me…"

"And don't you ever forget it," Ino said jokingly. "So, how are things?"  
"Not too good…father's been considering making me marry Neji sooner than planned and I just can't imagine…Neji's great, but…oh, it'd be like marrying my brother! I…I want to be with someone that I love romantically…"

By now, tears were welling up in the Hyuuga's eyes and Ino embraced her friend. "Sh, it's alright, I understand. I swear, I won't let you get married to him. We'll find you the right man and you can run away with him, if we have to get that extreme!"

"Ino…thank you so much! You really are a kind person…I shouldn't have stopped being your friend, even if it was only a day. That was unforgivable, to treat my best friend like that!"

"It's okay, Hinata. I have you back now, don't I?"  
"Y-yes, but what about Sakura? You've been friends with her even longer? Or Shikamaru, or Chouji?"

"Clearly they aren't as good friends as you around, and also, I've made new friends in my program," she said.

"Oh," Hinata said, face clouding. "Are they…are they…_good_ friends?"

"They're really great friends! Temari, Tenten, Karin, and Naruto. Me and Naruto are working together on a project and that reminds me. We're having a bake sale and we need help with baking. Maybe you could help out?" the blonde asked, much happier now that she was discussing her friends.

"Oh, that…that sounds very fun! I'd love to get to me this Naruto. He sounds like a nice person."

"He's great. He's only in there because he's a huge prankster."

After a few hours of just talking, it was time for Ino to take Hinata home. She was overjoyed to have one friend back and all her new friends, but couldn't help but feel nervous about meeting Itachi the next day.

**A/N: What could Itachi possibly have to say to our heroine? Find out next time! Also, I'm working on an outline so that I can write it faster.**

**Shusui: Vote in her poll.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: With my outline to help me, nothing can go wrong! Hooray!**

**Shusui: Yay!**

**Me: Hooray!**

The next day, Saturday, Ino woke up, slightly dreading the event that wasn't too far off, seeing as she had slept until 11:30. (A/N: It turned 11:30 as I typed this. Weird) Inoichi was already at work and as she got dressed and ready, she nearly wished he wasn't, just in case he would tell her that she wasn't allowed to go out.

Of course, she couldn't be that lucky and she had to get ready to go meet the older Uchiha brother. She got in her car and drove as slowly as she could to Konoha Shopping District, but still got there in no time.

Itachi was already waiting for her.

"Hello, Ino," he said. "I'm glad to see you showed up after all." Ino blushed. "Let's walk. I want to talk to you about my younger brother."

She fell into step beside her taller companion and took in his features. Really, he was a lot like Sasuke. They had a similar facial structure and the same ebony eyes and hair, though Itachi's was longer. (A/N: totally talking about hair here, I swear.) All in all, he was good looking and she really couldn't blame Karin for having a crush on him.

"My father is a police officer and ever since he was little, Sasuke has _idolized_ him. He wants to be just like him one day and absolutely despises anybody doing anything that goes against law.

"He hates me with a passion because he says that my falling into a gang and all the things I've done are bringing disgrace to our family. He refused to let me meet you because he didn't want you to see what a terrible person he thought I was.

"Obviously, when he found out you were being sent to the same place as me, that you had done something against the law, he didn't want anything to do with you. He had trusted you and felt a connection with you. You we going to be a part of his perfect life, the beautiful wife who helped teach the children right from wrong.

"As soon as he heard the news, his perfect vision shattered and without a second thought, he dumped you, not considering that you could ever change. He just ended things because you had become the very thing that he hated the most: a lawbreaker."

Ino's mouth was gaping open. This was a lot for just one girl to take in so quickly.

"Sa…sasuke told you all this?" she finally asked.

"No, he would never talk to me like that, considering his feelings towards me. Based on his personality and how he thinks and acts, that's how I think he's feeling."

"Oh, I see. I think I sort of understand how he feels, but really, it's not right to just abruptly end something good without talking about it first," she said, slightly shocked that she was having this deep a conversation with someone that she hardly knew.

"Do you really miss Sasuke?" he asked.

She thought about it. She missed the companionship, she missed being in a relationship, but as for him…she really couldn't say that she wanted to be with someone who didn't allow room for mistakes.

"No," she said, "I don't. I'd like to have a boyfriend again, but I really don't think I'd want to get back with him. Maybe I'd be better off looking for someone different than Sasuke."

"A wise decision. He has too many emotional conflicts for someone like you to have to deal with. For you, I'm thinking someone more free spirited and fun loving"

"Yes, I think you're ri-oh my gosh!" Ino suddenly gasped. Right across the way from her was the one, the only, Uchiha Sasuke.

"I see," Itachi said to himself and when Sasuke turned and saw them, shock written all over his face, the older Uchiha grabbed Ino's shoulders and moved down while pulling her towards him.

He kissed her.

His lips were also much like Sasuke's, she noticed, but she did not exactly enjoy what was happening right now. In fact, she was confused and angry that he was kissing her without her permission. However, it was rather nice…

The kiss ended abruptly when she heard Sasuke's voice shout, "Just what the hell are you two doing?"

"Giving this girl what she really deserves," Itachi replied all too calmly considering what he had just done.

"What do you mean 'what she really deserves'?"

"I'm not dumping her without warning because of one little mistake."  
"Shut up! You two criminals are both good for each other anyway! You can have each other, I'd never want a lawbreaker like her."

"Good, then go away. Also, I don't want to here a word about you doing anything to Ino that wouldn't be considered friendly. She's a wonderful girl and she deserves more than putting up with your crap."

Sasuke angrily stormed away and Ino stared in shock. She had never seen him blow up like that. He had always been the picture of perfect calm. But, more importantly…

"What _was_ that?" she asked, glaring. "Why did you _do_ that?"

"I apologize," Itachi said. "I had this planned from the beginning. I knew Sasuke would be here and I couldn't resist doing something to mess with him. I'm sorry I couldn't clue you in about it, but I didn't think you would go along with it. I'm not really interested in dating you. Actually, I'm more interested in Karin."

"No way! Seriously? Karin has a huge crush on you, you should totally go for it!"

"Thank you, Ino. I'll keep that in mind."

~X~

On Monday, Hinata sat in Ino's car working on homework while Ino was at her program, working with Naruto. She had invited Karin, Tenten, Temari, Kiba, and Kankuro (who turned out to be really nice) on board and now was planning what to bake, what to charge, where to sell, and what days to sell on.

"It's great that you've gotten us so much help," Naruto said. "At first I though this was gonna be a lot of boring work, but now it really is starting to sound like fun!"

"Yeah, totally. I kind of wish I could get some of my old friends to help me, but I guess that won't happen…"

"Hey, listen, I know it's really upsetting you, but you've got us and you've got that Hinata girl, and we're you're real friends. We'd never leave you for something and we'll be the ones who stand by your side until the end."

"Thanks, Naruto. You're really sweet, you know that?"

"Well, I try."

The two locked eyes, blue staring into blue and without any control, started to lean towards each other, closer and closer, nearing the other…

"Yamanaka Ino? Is that you?"

**A/N: Who is this mystery person?**

**Shusui: Two in one day! Nice!**

**Me: Technically I wrote the other one last night and added it this morning, but still. Vote my home dogs. Also, remember to review. Reviews keep me going! **

**Shusui: Did you have to throw in that Hannah style humor in the scene with Itachi?**

**Me: :D Indeed I did, indeed I did.**


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